Wild Horses
by kikidew
Summary: One-shot***Bella was battered inches away from losing her life. Will she learn to love again or is she going to let her past rule her future? Will Edward fight for her?


This is my one-shot that I entered for the Jukebox contest. It's my very first one-shot ever and enjoyed doing it. Hope you enjoy reading. I'm not sure who won yet, but the voting is over now.

**The Jukebox contest **

**PenName:** kikidew

**Song choice:** Wild Horses

**Rating:** MA

**Word Count: **6,259

**Pairing:** Bella and Edward

**Summary: **Bella was battered inches away from losing her life. Will she learn to love again or is she going to let her past rule her future? Will Edward fight for her?

**Disclaimer: **SM owns all things Twilight

**Video: **http : /www . youtube . com/watch?v=u9lEd5bIbbQ&feature=related (remove the spaces)

_**Childhood living is easy to do  
The things you wanted I bought them for you  
Graceless lady, you know who I am,  
You know I can't let you slide through my hands**_

_**Wild Horses,  
Couldn't drag me away,  
Wild, wild horses,  
Couldn't drag me away...**_

_**I watched you suffer a dull, aching pain  
Now you decided to show me the same  
No sweeping exits or offstage lines,  
Can make me feel bitter or treat you unkind**_

_**Wild Horses,  
Couldn't drag me away, Wild, wild horses,  
Couldn't drag me away...**_

_**I know I dreamed you a sin and a lie,  
I have my freedom but I don't have much time  
Faith has been broken tears must be cried,  
Let's do some living after we die**_

_**Wild Horses,  
Couldn't drag me away,  
Wild, wild horses,  
We'll ride them someday**_

_**Wild Horses,  
Couldn't drag me away,  
Wild, wild horses,  
We'll ride them someday**_

***Bella***

"Jacob, please . . . please don't." I watched him slither closer to me, pointing the butcher knife at me. The look upon his face was pure, raw evil. "I'm . . . I'm sorry." Of course, I was lying. This piece of shit could go to hell. He had ruled my life far too long- my every move, the way I did my hair, how I cleaned the house, what I wore. I was never allowed to speak to anyone. I had no friends. And the reason why he would probably kill me today was because he had come home and caught me speaking to a salesman- a _male_ salesman.

"Isabella, I'm done!" He inched closer. "You have disobeyed me for the last time!" He was inches away and I felt his hot, alcoholic breath waft across my face.

My stomach convulsed and I forced the vomit back down my throat, but I couldn't control the choking cough that sputtered from my mouth. I tried to move, but was too late as I felt the sting of his hand across my right cheek. It brought tears to my eyes and I quickly closed them to keep the tears at bay.

"You're nothing but a whore!" His voice was so loud against my ear, it began to ring.

He was quiet now, too quiet.

Peeking through my eyelashes I saw his face rearrange from fury to lust. His eyes raked over my body. It made me feel dirty the way he looked at me. It always had. I felt the cold, steel blade of the knife slide across my chest and up to my throat. He held it there firmly, never making eye contact. His other hand reached down and slowly pulled up the skirt of my white sundress. My body stiffened when I felt his cold, clammy hand slide up on the inside of my thigh. Never again.

"Don't!" I strangled out.

His eyes snapped up and met mine. "Don't? Have you forgotten Isabella . . . you are mine. And I will do whatever I please." His eyes moved to the blade at my throat and watched it as he took the knife down my throat, across my upper chest and down my left arm.

I whimpered and bit my tongue when I felt the blade pierce, slicing through my flesh. The warm blood seeped out of the lacerations and trickled down my body as I finally let my tears fall too. The bitter pain and the rusty smell made my head spin. I wanted out of this body and as I drifted into unconsciousness I could still feel the blade cutting against my skin and the blinding pain as my body shook violently with the blows inflicted upon it from a man I was sure came from hell.

***Edward***

"Come on Emmett, Jasper. Wrap them up tight on the north and west. I've got it down here." I called out across the plain. "Come on, boys. Do it right or get off your horses. Round 'em up." I dug my heels into my trusty black stallion, Spirit, and then pulled on the reins as he took off.

The one-hundred head of mustangs began to settle and a sense of pride washed through me when I watched them calm their breathing. These were fresh mustangs straight from the Brumby in Australia. They were owned by my father, and I was blessed to have helped bring some into the world. My father, Anthony, had passed away six months ago and that was when I decided to sell the acres in Australia and move to the United States. Northern Colorado to be exact. Ma and I were the only family left Down Under, so I decided a change of scenery would help brighten our spirits.

Dad and I were quite successful stockman back home, but I had always longed to be a true cowboy like the ones in the stories my mother would tell me about my great-great-great-grandpa. The stories about him were enough for a little boy to remember and idolize forever. He was astounding and was a stuntman in the very first stage-coach movie ever filmed. Mom would let me sit and watch it over and over, but she put that film away the day I had tried to copy one of his stunts. That day, I had broken one leg and one arm, but it didn't dampen my attitude. Over the years and watching so many American cowboy movies, my Australian accent became more Americanized. It was still there, of course, but wasn't prominent.

"Boss, are we ready to head back?" Emmett asked. He took off his hat and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his flannel-covered forearm.

Emmett was a true cowboy from his hat to his lariat. He was born and raised on a ranch similar to mine. It was in his blood. Jasper, Emmett's brother in-law, was raised on Texas corn and was a retired rodeo clown. They were hard, tough workers, never complained and both had a passion for horses, which of course is why I hired them as my ranch hands. They were the best of the best.

"Yeah, it's gettin' late and I'm sure your women have dinner on the ta. . ." I stopped when I saw a figure in between Emmett and Jasper's heads, but further back on the hill about two-hundred yards. It was a woman. Her long, dark hair flowed around her in the August breeze. The white dress clung to her legs. She stumbled and, before I could call out, fell to the ground and started rolling down the hill. I remember doing that as a kid, but I watched as her limbs flung out awkwardly every which way. She needed help.

Before I could think any further, I yanked hard on Spirit's reins and shouted, "Yaw . . . yaw." I whipped past Jasper and Emmett and rode hard as I vaguely heard my name in the wind. I knew they wouldn't be too far behind me.

By the time I reached the woman, she had rolled to a stop at the base of the hill. Jumping off the horse, I approached her quickly- cautious and unsure of what state I would find her in. She was still as death. Bending down on my knee, I brushed her mahogany hair away from her face. What I saw made me sick to my stomach and I dropped to the ground. Her face was marred with black and blue bruises, her eyes swollen shut and her lips adorned with cuts where the dry-blood was caked and cracked.

"Heavens, what in the hell happened to her?" Jasper asked, knowing it was going to go unanswered. No one moved.

I let my eyes roam over the rest of her body. The purity of her white dress was tainted by the volume of the blood that covered her arms, chest and legs. There was so much dried blood it was hard to see where she was hurt. A soft whimper escaped her swollen lips and immediately I jumped into action, realizing how bad off she really was.

"We need to get her back to the house." I knew it was bad to move her, but there was no way an ambulance could get this far out and she needed immediate medical attention. I leaned down and picked her up bridal style and handed her over to Emmett. I jumped back on my horse and reached for the fragile, broken woman. As I placed her astride the horse, she let out a deep, agonizing moan- she was in undoubtedly in pain. I held on tight and turned to the boys. "Call Esme and have her meet us at the house." With that I took off as quickly as I could, trying not to jar her body anymore than it already had been.

Esme was already there when I approached the house, along with the boys' wives, Rosalie and Alice. They looked terrified as they noticed the woman's appearance, but jumped into action. Rosalie took my horse and walked it back to the stables and Alice helped me get the woman upstairs into a bed.

The woman - this angel - had not regained consciousness. I just stared at her still form as Esme attended to her head wounds.

"Alice, I need you to get me some washcloths and a basin of really warm water, not too hot," Esme said then turned to me. "Edward, she really should be in a hospital."

I nodded. "I know. I'll call Carlisle."

Esme laughed. "Your vet?"

Alice entered the room with towels and basin then sat them down on the bedside table.

I laughed a little too when I thought about what I had just suggested. "I trust him with my most prized possessions, Ma." I walked over and stood by her while she began wiping the dried blood and dirt off the woman's face. It was obvious someone had used this beautiful woman as a punching bag. How could anyone with any self-respect harm a person, especially a woman? I could feel the anger inside me start to boil over. I was a volcano on the verge of erupting.

"Edward?" My head snapped towards Esme. "You need to go calm down. You're about to make yourself pass out with all that heavy breathing you're doing?" I nodded. "Plus, I'm about ready to cut her dress open to see about her other wounds. I think it would be best if you called Carlisle. . . or maybe he knows a 'human' doctor that could come and check her out."

Without another word, I left the room, closing the door softly behind me. I wanted to go back in and help her anyway that I could. I felt compelled to. Felt drawn to her. She was a mystery. She was broken. And I was dead-set on finding out who had laid their vicious hands on her and marred her ivory skin.

Nothing was going to drag me away from her.

***Bella***

My body was stiff, yet I was laying on something soft and it molded well to my body. My head was pounding and I could hear my blood pumping and straining against the veins in my head. I tried to move, but the soft blanket on top of me felt like a thousand pounds as my muscles struggled to remove it.

I groaned, frustrated and aching when I tried to open my eyes, but failed. Brief flashes of what Jacob had done to me flitted across my memory also reminding me of the surreal feeling I had when I was able to gather up enough strength to stumble out the front door. I was sure he would have followed me and was surprised when he didn't.

I had walked through a haze with a newfound determination, my bare feet were sliced and rubbed raw against the ground, but I had endured worse.

"_Get far away from him," _was the only mantra I repeated over and over in my head.

Time passed and I wasn't sure how much, but I eventually came across a log fence and ducked in between the rails. Tall green grasses swept across my calves, almost hitting my knees as I trudged through the wide-open field and my feet felt mildly soothed from the dirt below. I was separated from my body and focused straight ahead as I came to the top of a hill. Everything was shrouded in a blue hue.

_Alone. Was I dead?_

But that's when I saw them. Horses. Over a hundred of them. They were beyond beautiful as I watched them running free with their long, glistening manes flying around their faces and muscles contracting as they slowed their graceful gallops.

_Heaven._

And then I fell.

I thought I was dead, so I felt extremely confused as I laid here exhausted. My thoughts were cut off when I fell back into a dreamless sleep.

When I woke up next, the room seemed brighter. This time I was able to open my eyes a little; they were still swollen but didn't ache as much. With the little vision I had, I looked out over the room. It was decorated in soft, sunshine yellow and sky blues.

My body was still sore as I removed the comforter and tried to maneuver my legs and feet to stand. I sucked in a few breaths to brace myself for the pain I knew was coming. The cold wooden floor sent chills up my warm body. Once I was firmly on my feet and my breathing began to slow, I stood and looked down. I was wearing a pair of gray sweat pants that went to my knees and a black tank top. My chest, arms and legs were covered in bandages. Everything was real. Jacob had done this to me. I would be scarred for life. But it reminded me that I was free.

Free.

I wanted to continue to keep it that way.

To fight.

A loud snapping noise brought me out of my inner thoughts. I walked tentatively, aching with each step, toward the window and peered down. A shirtless, beautiful man, with a black cowboy hat upon his head, stood in the middle of a round corral. In his hand was a whip and he turned slowly around as he watched a white horse running around the corral. He snapped his whip, never hitting the horse, but with each snap the horse changed his direction. He never used his voice for the commands, but let the whip speak for him. I was entranced and watched the long sinewy muscles of his back flex each time he snapped his whip. The light sheen of sweat glistened in the morning sun and defined his firm abdominal muscles. With one last snap of his whip the horse approached him. The man reached out and stroked the horse lovingly. I could see his mouth moving and I was sure he was speaking kind words to him.

All of a sudden he grabbed the horse's mane, jumped up and straddled the horse bare back. He made it seem easy, with no effort at all. He elongated his body and laid his chest across the horse's neck, stroking and hugging him. I had never seen a man show so much love for anything in my entire life. The horse turned his head slightly toward the man's face, as if he was hugging him back.

When I finally looked back to the man's face I jumped slightly when I noticed his gaze was on me. My hand came to my mouth when I gasped at his handsome features. He gave me a small smile, tipped his hat towards me then walked the horse out of the corral.

Frozen, I stood there and watched until he was out of sight. Once he was gone, I had the sudden urge to use the bathroom. I stepped out into the hall. This house was large and beautiful. The hand railings and the floor boards appeared to have been created by a talented craftsman. There were six doors and I wasn't sure which one was the bathroom. I padded down the hallway and pushed lightly on the doors. On the third one, I found it.

Mirrors were everywhere and no matter how much I tried to avoid them, I couldn't. My reflection was staring at me in every direction. This couldn't be me. How could I have let it get this bad with Jacob? I couldn't even recognize myself. This wasn't me. This wasn't the woman I knew I was six years ago. I let him do this. Why?

I was so distraught. My chest tightened up and I struggled with my breathing. At first I was feeling sorry for myself, but in the next moment I was blinded with anger. How could I be so weak? I picked up the vase of flowers off the counter and threw them at the mirror. Next came the soap dish. I was sobbing and screaming by now.

"How could I have let him do this?" I screamed. "Why?" I closed my eyes, gripped my hair and tugged so hard I could feel the roots pulling from my aching head.

Then I was encased into large warm arms. Hands came up and softly slid my fingers out of my hair.

"Shhh . . . darlin' . . . it's okay . . . you need to stop hurtin' yourself." The voice, with a hint of some type of accent, washed over me like soft clouds, calming me. My breathing slowed, I opened my eyes, looking down at the floor. It was covered in glass. I had done this- ruined his beautiful home.

I gasped. "I'm so sorry. Look what I've done." I tried to remove myself from his arms, but he held on tighter from behind.

"Darlin', it's only a mirror. It can be fixed." His breath brushed across my neck. I almost melted at his endearing words, but kept my guard up because that's exactly how Jacob was, at first. "Come on, let's get you out of here before you cut your feet and we have to bandage up more of you." I flinched a little.

Sweeping me up in his arms, we left the bathroom and walked down the steps. He had taken off his hat so I took in the beauty of his face and how the weight of my body seemed to have no affect on him. He must have noticed me gazing at him because he looked down and gave me a brilliant lopsided smile. He was beautiful and I must have looked hideous to him. I frowned noticing he had put on a white t-shirt when I snuggled into his shoulder. He hadn't showered and smelled slightly of sweat, but it wasn't offensive.

He tightened his grip on me. "What's your name?"

"Bella." I spoke into his shoulder.

"That's pretty." I looked up at him. He set me down on the couch and placed a flannel blanket over me. Reaching over, he brushed the hair away from my face. "I'm Edward."

I smiled at him. "Thanks, for taking care of me, Edward."

"I was . . . worried about you . . . Do you think you could tell me what happened?"

I shook my head. "Not right now."

"Okay . . . um Alice is in the kitchen fixin' breakfast. It should be done in a few. Then after that you should get some more rest."

***Edward***

A couple of weeks had passed since I had heard the heart-wrenching screams from Bella. Not only was her body broken, but her mind was broken as well. It was obvious that she was blaming herself for whatever had happened to her. It pissed me off because no matter if she had said or done something horrible, no one should have been touched, broken or treated the way she had been. I wanted to make her listen to me until it was clear to her, but all I could do was show her how a woman, a person, should be treated.

I had seen some of what had happened to her, but when Carlisle's friend Dr. Alec Smith informed me she had intentional cuts down her body and she had been beaten within an inch from her life, I was so angry that I took Spirit out and rode him harder than I ever had until he protested and stopped. I had never felt so much anger and sadness before- not even when my father had passed away. There was something about this woman, I was drawn to her and determined to fix her, no matter what it would cost me.

Bella's bruises and lacerations healed. She became close to Alice and Rosalie. I enjoyed hearing the laughter of the women in the kitchen when I walked in from a hard day's work. Jasper and Emmett knew, without even asking, that I had started having strong, dedicated feelings toward Bella. I wanted to know her, keep her safe.

Of course, I had always thought she was beautiful, but every day that her bruises and cuts healed her beauty magnified. Often I found myself breathless when it came to her beauty. Things she did: biting her lip, pushing her hair behind her ears, looking at me from underneath her long, chestnut eyelashes kept sending me to the bathroom or retreating to bed early to . . . um . . . take care of myself . . . down there . . . yeah.

But today would be the day that I saw her full beauty. I was out in the stables feeding the horses when I felt and knew she had come in.

"Would you like some help?" she asked.

I turned and looked at her. She had on skin-tight jeans, a white, long-sleeved shirt tucked in, securely held there by a belt with a large silver belt buckle and her hair was put up in a high pony-tail. It was extremely long and flowed down to the middle of her back. She was . . . sexy, but what did me in was her dark brown cowgirl boots on her tiny feet. I was done for. I took five long strides and then I was in front of her. I could smell her from where I stood, inches away from her soft body, lavender and sunshine. She smiled.

I reached up to cup her cheek, but she flinched and gave me a painful look. I mirrored it. "Bella, I'm not _him_."

"I know." She blinked and looked me straight in the eye. "I was with _him_ for six years. And of those six, he ruled over me, beat me, and degraded me for five-and-half." She bit her lip. Ugh! "It's just become a reaction when someone gets that close. But . . . I know you're not him."

Pushing down the anger after what she had revealed, I reached for her cheek again and this time she didn't flinch. She covered my hand with hers and sighed. "Your touch is comforting to me. It . . . calms me and it . . . also scares me."

"I won't hurt you in any way." I pulled her lip away from her teeth with my thumb.

"I know, but I'm afraid I'll hurt you." She closed her eyes and I watched as her eyelashes brushed across her rosy cheek bone.

"You won't. You can't."

Bending down, I touched my lips to hers. She froze at first, but then kissed me back. She tasted like the strawberry pancakes we had that morning and I pushed further into her when I remembered watching her lick the syrup from her fork. I wanted to taste more. I brushed my tongue along her lips. She jumped back, away from me, and placed her hand to her mouth.

A tear slipped from her eye. "I can't." I reached out to brush her tear away but she violently jerked her body away from me. "I can't." She turned on her heel and ran off toward the corrals.

Feeling completely at a loss, I stood there stunned at the reaction I had gotten from her. The kiss was sweet and left me wanting more, but in no way was I going to pressure her. She had just told me that my touch was comforting, yet she ran. Maybe it was too soon for that type of touch. I wasn't going to give up on her. If she wasn't ready, she wasn't ready. I had to remind myself what she had told me "he ruled over me, beat me, and degraded me." She wasn't healed and I wasn't sure when or if she ever would be.

I walked toward the corrals where I saw her perched on the top, sitting, watching the horses I had been breaking in. Jasper and Emmett gave me a tip of their hats while they tended to the horses. I didn't say a word as I stood by her on the corral fence.

"They're beautiful," she whispered. "Alice told me they came from Australia. Yours." I nodded. "That's where you're from?"

I smiled and brushed my hand up against hers on the fence. "That's right."

She giggled. It was music. "Your accent, it's Australian."

I laughed. "You can tell? A lot of people can't."

"Of course I can, but you still sound like a cowboy." She shook her head with a beautiful smile gracing her pouty lips. I wanted to kiss them again.

"It's all of those American cowboy movies I watched growin' up." I laughed and watched her reaction.

She giggled again. "Can I ride one?"

I raised my eyebrows and was a little taken aback. "You know how?"

"Of course, ever since I was little," she said, looking me in the eye.

I knew I liked her, but I believe I just fell in love with Bella right then. I realized I hadn't answered when she raised her eyebrows and asked again, "Can I?"

My smile was large. "Sure." Without asking permission, I wrapped my hands around her tiny waist and yanked her off the fence making her squeak and then laugh. I was beyond anxious to see her on a horse, one of my horses.

After we saddled up the horses, I was about ready to help her up on her horse, Starlight, when she surprised the hell out of me and mounted with no effort at all.

My mouth was hanging open and I heard her laugh. "Edward?" My eyes snapped toward hers. "You ready to go?" I nodded and let my eyes wander down her body as I stopped and stared at her legs as they wrapped around the horse, wishing they were wrapped around me. I never in my twenty-five years been inflicted with such unclean thoughts of a woman than I did right at that moment. "Well?" She giggled.

"Yeah . . . yeah . . . hold on." She knew I was checking her out. I walked over to Spirit and mounted him, swallowing hard and clearing my impure thoughts. "Let's go."

Blown away, that's what I was. She handled her horse better than any woman I had ever seen. She was part of the horse. Every turn Starlight made, Bella would bend with her. They were one fluid being. It was magnificent and the smile on Bella's face was exquisite. How did she know how to ride so well? She was a mystery.

She took off, darting quickly out in front of me as she called over her shoulder, "Quit being a slow poke. Are you going to let some girls outrun you two?"

I laughed at her playfulness and of course I followed, determined to catch up.

***Bella***

This is what freedom felt like. And it was wonderful.

I hadn't ridden in over six years, but it was like riding a bike. Once you learned how to ride, it just naturally came back to you when you got on.

I missed it.

I loved it.

This was who I was.

And I was determined never to give up who I was ever again.

Edward was everything Jacob was not. He was tough, but in a soft way. If he could love a person the way I had seen him love his horses, I just knew he would never hurt anyone intentionally.

I was happy to finally feel like myself- even better than that. I hated my scars, but was happy I was almost healed.

Sometimes I didn't feel so attractive, but when Edward looked at me, I felt beautiful.

When he kissed me, it was pure bliss. My mind was at war with itself. It felt so good to be with Edward, natural, but then I thought about Jacob and how it was with him in the beginning. I was simply just confused. I wanted to feel so much, but I was numb.

But when I was riding, though, I knew I was beginning to feel. Happy was an understatement. Ecstatic was more like it. Life was too short. I remembered when I had woken up the first time here on Edward's ranch, I promised myself to never let anyone hold me back, never let Jacob hold me back.

I slowed down when I came to a small patch of tall oak trees and jumped down. My chest was rising and falling, not from over exertion, but from determination, lust, and love.

Edward wasn't too far from me. He slowed and jumped off by looked at my face and whatever expression I displayed made him furrow his dark eyebrows. "Bella, are you okay?"

I didn't say anything as I launched myself into his arms and kissed him hard. This was good, this was great, this was right. He kissed me back, but then pulled away with a questioning look. I smiled and then his lips were on mine. Reaching up, I dug my fingers into his lightly sweaty hair, knocking off his hat. He groaned as I grabbed his hair. My tongue reached out and slid across his lips. His reaction wasn't the same as mine earlier. This was my invitation and he didn't decline as he opened up and brushed his tongue along mine. I was the one groaning this time. His hands snaked around my back. He wrapped my pony-tail around his hand and pulled my head to the side as he moved his lips from mine along my jaw down to my neck.

"Edward," I moaned.

He bit my ear lobe and whispered, "Oh, my Bella . . . I want you . . . I need you . . . Beautiful."

"I need you too." I pushed my hips against his body, earning a painful moan from him.

We slid to the ground and hid our bodies in the tall grass. He laid me down and just stared at me with an expression I had never seen. Love.

He stroked my cheek with his calloused fingers. "Beautiful. I'm falling in love with you."

"I'm falling in love with you, too. Please don't ever hurt me."

He shook his head. "Never, darlin'."

"I know."

He reached down and captured my lips again. His hands hovered over the buttons to my shirt. "Can I see you?"

"I'm damaged, Edward. I'm not beautiful anymore."

"Bella, don't ever think that, ever again. You will always be beautiful, exquisite in my eyes and in everyone else's. I could kill that bastard for what he did to you." He scowled.

I gasped. "No, Edward. Don't say that. If you did, I would lose you."

"You won't ever lose me. Nothing will ever come between us."

I kissed him then. Our lips became urgent, needy, against one another. Horses were forgotten, clothes were removed, hands touched everywhere over the slickness of each other's bodies as we made love in the field where our destinies intertwined. The only noises were the soft sweeping sounds of the breeze as it cooled our hot bodies and the moans of pleasure and pure, unadulterated love as we became one.

He felt right. I felt loved as he placed kisses all over my body, all over the scars that would forever be there. The arms that I had seen lovingly wrap around one of his horses encased me as he held me close- never taking his skin away from mine. His gentle touches made me feel beautiful, but most of all I knew that I was.

***Edward***

I was in shock as we made our way slowly back to the stables side-by-side. We were quiet, but comfortable as we kept stealing happy glances at one another.

When we reached the stables and were about to go in, Bella stopped Starlight from going forward. I looked back and noticed her face was drained of the blush that had adorned her face after our love making. She was white as a ghost and I could hear her breathing start to stagger.

"Bella, what's wrong?"

"Ja . . . Jacob's at the house." Her chest was heaving.

My eyes widened and I vaulted off the horse. She never had spoken _his_ name before, but I knew by the look on her face that's who it was. The one who almost destroyed this lovely creature I had come to love and adore. And he was here, trying to rip her away from my life.

I looked up to the house and saw a large dark-haired, dark-skinned man standing on the porch speaking with Emmett and Jasper.

"Stay here." I took off running toward the house.

When I reached the house I listened in on the heated discussion Emmett and Jasper were having with Jacob.

Emmett took a step towards Jacob. "I told you, man. There's no one here by that name. And we've never seen that woman before." He pointed to a picture Jacob was holding. It was clearly Bella, but I was happy Emmett was smart enough to know this was the man that had beaten Bella.

"I know she's here and I'm not leaving until I talk to her." He took a step toward Emmett until their noses were practically touching.

"He already told you there is no one here by that name," I said, trying to keep my anger in check.

Jacob whipped around, smiling, then looked over my shoulder. "Then would you care to tell me who that is?"

I turned around and saw Bella, still on Starlight, behind me. She looked down at me, gave me a small smile then looked up to Jacob. Her face morphed into something fierce and strong.

She hadn't listened when I had told her to stay, but I wasn't surprised.

"What do you want, Jacob?" she sneered. I was a little surprised. I had never heard this type of hateful tone in her voice before.

"I want you to come home," Jacob flatly stated.

Bella shocked everyone when she started to laugh. Was she going out of her mind? Was this too much for her?

"Bella, I fail to see any humor in this. For as much as I think you look sexy up on that horse, you need to jump off and come with me. Now!" It wasn't a suggestion, he was barking out a command.

Bella stopped her laughing at once. "I'm never going anywhere with you, Jacob, ever again."

"Don't make yourself look like a fool, Bella. You know I own you, so stop being a burden to these people and come home. I'm not asking," he growled and waved his hands around.

This had to end. _He owned her_. I don't think so. What was wrong with him?

I stepped toward Jacob. "She is no burden. I believe she told you she wasn't goin' anywhere with you, so I suggest you remove yourself from my land before I call the police or remove you myself."

He had the audacity to laugh in my face. "Oh, I see. You love this whore."

I was done. I pulled my fist back then connected it with Jacob's face. He staggered back and held his eye. Emmett and Jasper put their hands on his shoulders. They had him.

I turned around and saw tears rolling down Bella's cheek.

"Darlin', it's all right. You know whatever he says is just a lie. You are not a burden and most of all, you are not a whore. I'll take care of-."

I was cut off by Bella's scream. "Edward, watch out."

Before I knew what was happening, I was shoved to the ground by Jasper. I rolled back around as I watched Starlight rear back, her front legs in the air as they came down onto Jacob's chest, sending him falling to the ground. Starlight reared back again and came down onto Jacob's legs. We all heard and cringed as loud crunching sounds echoed through the air. By then, Emmett hand reached Starlight, helping Bella to calm her down.

Rosalie and Alice had come out on the porch during the entire ruckus with shocked expressions across their faces.

"Alice, call 9-1-1," Jasper yelled out. Alice ran back in, and then came out with the cordless phone.

After a couple of hours of hearing Jacob's agonizing screams of pain as we all sat and watched from the front porch steps, he was finally loaded and secured in the back of the ambulance. The EMT checked him out and said he was in critical, but stable condition. Almost all of his ribs were broken and both of his legs had been shattered. And they were quite sure he had internal bleeding as well.

I held Bella as she sobbed, soaking my skin. She had been through a lot.

No matter how bruised and broken I had seen Jacob, I couldn't find it within my heart or soul to feel one ounce of sympathy or empathy for him whatsoever. The pain he was enduring would never add up to the sheer number of bruises he had left on Bella's body and soul. He deserved it and he deserved everything else that would come after healing and leaving the hospital.

I was certain I would be able to get Bella to press charges, and luckily Dr. Smith had taken pictures of the bruises and lacerations on her body when she had literally rolled into my life.

As I sat there and held her, I tried to comfort her.

"Darlin', it's goin' to be all right. He's not goin' to hurt you anymore. Nothing is your fault." She shook her head. "Come on, he's hurt because of Starlight. It's not your doin'."

"No, Edward, it's my fault." She straightened up and looked into my eyes. "I made her rear up."

My eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"He was coming after you and I couldn't let him hurt you."

Her admission there on the porch steps, on that warm September evening, was not only enough to prove her love for me by trying to protect me, but it was enough for me to know, deep into my bones, that even my own wild horses could never drag me away from my angel.

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